Tuesday, February 3, 2015

The River of Doubt by Candice Millard

The Amazon River Basin as observed by ERS-1 Radar Altimeter, including so-called 'wet' radar echoes from rivers, lakes and swamps. Credit: ESA

The book is about Teddy Roosevelt's South American Expedition. The way it was framed made the title sound like a philosophical journey, but it turns out there really was a 'River of Doubt'. It's about a quarter of inch long in the middle of the above map. It was renamed Roosevelt River.
The book is full of interesting stuff about the early 20th Century. I've only just started and already my world view is being altered. The story of Teddy and the Panama canal is a little unsettling for someone who thinks we shouldn't be jerking around poor little third world countries.
Meanwhile, I'm looking for a map of this river and I found this image, which I think is pretty cool. The Amazon River does not come anywhere Rio de Janeiro. The Amazon is that white, vein like structure spreading over the central blue (low altitude) area. It empties in the Atlantic right at the equator. How did I not know that? Rio is too far South to even show up on this map.